Tennis women fall behind after Lys defeat against Italy
The German women's tennis team came under pressure at the final round of the Billie Jean King Cup. At the start of the group match against Italy, Eva Lys was beaten 6:7 (6:8), 1:6 by the favored Italian Martina Trevisan in Seville.
Only two victories in the following singles match by Anna-Lena Friedsam and in the doubles match could prevent her rapid exit from the preliminary round. Because they won against France the day before, the Italians would advance to the semi-finals of the team competition as group winners if they won again.
Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund only in the doubles
Lys started strongly. The Hamburg player led 5:3 against Trevisan and had a set point in the tie-break, but the first round went to the Italian after a hard-fought 78 minutes. The 21-year-old from Hamburg is ranked 130th in the world, well behind the left-hander (43rd), but she initially played courageously and had her chances.
While she had kept the first set completely open, the second clearly developed in favor of the more consistent Trevisan. At 1:4, Lys took a medical time-out and left the court. She returned with a bandaged thigh, but was no longer able to threaten the Italian.
Team boss Rainer Schüttler decided not to play the experienced Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund in the singles. Siegemund had traveled late from Mexico to Seville because of her doubles title win at the WTA Finals and is scheduled to play doubles with Maria against Italy. On Friday (10.00 a.m. / Tennis Channel), the German Tennis Federation will face France.
Despite Eva Lys' valiant effort in the opening set against Martina Trevisan, she ultimately lost in the Billie Jean King Cup match against Italy, which put pressure on Germany's DTB team. Lys' defeat meant that Germany relied on victories from Anna-Lena Friedsam in the singles and their doubles team in order to avoid an early exit from the preliminary round.
Source: www.dpa.com
